This application claims the priority of German patent document 100 22 820.8, filed May 10, 2000, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a flight control display, which is suitable for both the cockpit of a manned aircraft and for a ground station that controls an unmanned aircraft. The flight control display according to the invention serves the purpose of selecting a destination, which can be a waypoint, a runway or load drop-off location, in a specified flight direction.
State-of-the-art flight control displays that are integrated into the flight director or forward view, such as the head-up display configurations described in the magazine “Flying,” May 1999 issue, p. 68 and so on, or in Tom Clancy's “Fighter Wing,” Heyre Publishing Co., Munich, Germany, 1996, p. 56, utilize a diagrammatic approach base line. The relative position of this approach base line indicates on the display (e.g., on the screen) the position of the aircraft relative to the straight approach base line of the destination. The approach base line shown in the state of the art can be a symbol for the runway or for the final approach direction, which in general can also be at an angle to the runway. The direction of the approach base line is specified, known to the system and cannot be modified arbitrarily by the pilot. Its position on the display results from current navigational data. Depending on the motion of the aircraft relative to the approach line of the destination, the approach base line and/or its symbol on the display also moves to one side or upward/downward.
State-of-the-art flight control displays integrated into the flight director or the forward view are therefore shown in the forward view perspective of the pilot and/or a fictitious observer of a ground station located in the cockpit.
One disadvantage of this type of projection is that the approach base line can only be shown in a certain sector, due to the specified perspective of the display. During phases of the approach where the aircraft initially flies in a direction opposite the final approach direction, the pilot must observe a second navigational display in order to estimate the relative position and the flight direction of the aircraft relative to the specified final approach direction. He must therefore divert his view from e.g., a head-up display. Both displays must then first be processed intellectually by the pilot before he can estimate his relative position and flight direction toward the destination and/or final approach direction. Thus, particular advantage of an integrated display (to have to observe only one display to gather all flight status information and navigational information) is lost. With a head-up display, the pilot loses the ability to simultaneously observe the outside.
State-of-the-art displays therefore create difficulties, especially when the pilot must fly sections with arc patterns during the last flight phases before the final approach.
One object of the invention is therefore to provide a flight control display that is integrated into the flight director and that shows the pilot a view of his relative position and flight direction in relation to a specified final approach direction of a destination without limiting the viewing ability of the display to certain aircraft positions.
In unmanned aircraft, which are equipped to allow a pilot's view with a camera, another object of the invention is to provide a flight control display that is integrated in the forward view and whose view is not limited to the sectional view of the camera.
These and other objects and advantages are achieved by the display according to the invention, in which the aircraft's position relative to the destination and desired direction (for example, relative to the runway and direction of the runway and/or the flyover direction at a certain destination) is shown in a full 360° view around the aircraft. When the invented projection is used, for example with a head-up display, the front view, the airspace with the final approach direction and the current flight direction as well as general flight control parameters can be viewed simultaneously.
The display according to the invention is beneficial for a curving approach. It is also advantageous in situations where the runway or the destination is not visible with the mere eye because the relative position of the aircraft is not favorable, because the weather does not permit visibility or the runway and/or because the destination is hidden for topographic reasons. With low visibility (e.g., when a side view onto the runway cannot be observed), the flight control display according to the invention offers a projection of the relative position of the aircraft and the aircraft's direction in relation to the destination. Beyond that, in the case of DME/arc approaches and approaches where the final approach direction and the desired destination direction (e.g., runway direction) do not agree, the display of the desired destination direction (the desired direction of the aircraft over or at the destination) enables clear orientation in connection with the view of the aircraft's direction relative to the destination.
The display according to the invention is particularly favorable when a change from an instrument approach to a directionally deviant final approach based on visual conditions must be performed because the invented display integrates all relevant directions in the horizontal plane and the forward view of the pilot with each other, without limiting the latter due to a fictitious viewing angle.
The display according to the invention can also be used beneficially during approaches that require very precise navigation by outside visibility, such as for example on unmanned aircraft, which at the same time permit only a very limited viewing angle (e.g., through the camera) of the outside.
According to the invention, the relative position and direction of the aircraft relative to the destination and/or desired destination direction are integrated into the flight director or forward view. The “forward view” here can also be a head-up display (HUD) outside view, screen projection, a view projected into a visor (helmet-mounted display or HMD) or in the case of an unmanned flight a camera view, onto which generally also HUD-like information is superimposed.
The invention in general relates to the approach of destinations or locations (e.g., a runway or the touchdown point of a runway, ground destinations of armed aircraft, landing decks on buildings or ships or load drop-off locations).
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.